In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Three days after Honor is told her older brother, Finn, died during combat, she gets a letter in the mail from him, before he died.

She doesn't open the letter until the day of his funeral. And what she finds makes her grieve all over again. Finn gave her tickets to see Kyra Kelley, her all time favorite singer and Finn's too, though he wouldn't admit it after awhile. But he wanted Honor to go to her concert in California and tell Kyra about how awesome he was.

Honor was supposed to be leaving for college the day after Finn's funeral. Instead, she packs up his old Impala and starts driving to CA to do his final wish before he died.

The one thing Honor wasn't anticipating was Rusty, Finn's closest best friend, to arrive drunk and passed out in the car right when she was leaving. After Finn enlisted, Rusty didn't talk to Honor anymore and now he's drinking enough liquor to stink up her car.

Instead of kicking him out, she just starts driving. By the time Rusty wakes up, he's already in New Mexico - too late to head back to Texas.

So now Honor is stuck with Rusty on a road trip to do her brother's last wish, while still grieving the one person she loved the most. And let's just say that Rusty is not the best traveling buddy.

Though he does know what to do when the car goes off road during an unexpected thunderstorm. And he does have his mother's house to stop by and fix the poor car halfway to CA.

The trip brings back memories for both Rusty and Honor about Finn, making them laugh in memory. But it also reveals secrets that Honor didn't know about her older brother. Secrets that may destroy Honor completely... Read In Honor by Jessi Kirby to find out what those secrets are.

My Thoughts/Reflections
From the first page of this novel, I knew it was going to be a tear jerker. I actually had tears in my eyes by the second page. And I knew I would finish this in one sitting to read this heartbreaking story, filled with adventure, sorrow, and expectations.

And even though it was sad, I loved this book. There were a few areas that I was not sure about, like the pit stop to scuba dive with strangers, but for the most part I fell more in love with Honor, Rusty and Finn while also feeling a part of my heart break piece by piece.

I've never had anyone close to me die, so I can't imagine how excruciating it was for Honor to not only lose her parents at the age of 4, but then to lose her brother at the age of 18. She has been through so much hardship and then she is expected to go to college and "move on" just like that. So running off to CA for a week sounds like something she needed after this horrible news.

The road trip was good for both Rusty and Honor, who were grieving over Finn's death in different ways.

I really do adore this novel and I think other's could be influenced by this story that Kirby created. Sure, it has an uneven pace going from slow to fast then back to slow but the message of this novel could affect anyone reading it.

I know I will not forget this story any time soon and will recommend it to anyone wanting a story about loss, life, and the potential for a new love.

I'm going to be reading her debut novel soon, since it's at my library, and will be looking out for Kirby's upcoming novel that will be released in 2013!

Drive Me Crazy by Erin Downing

Kate, Sierra and Alexis are best friends, and always hangout with each other during the summer after Alexis convinced everyone's family to summer in Wisconsin at the lake.

And Kate is extremely excited for this summer because she almost, finally has her first boyfriend, Lucas, who also goes to the lake during the summer.

Last summer they had their first kiss on the last night of their stay. Now, Kate can't wait to get back there to see what will happen between her and Lucas since they have the whole summer together.

Also, Kate and her two friends get to road trip to WI for the first time, giving them a great experience and will have loads of memories to relive when they get older. It's a girls trip!

Except that Adam, Alexis's cousin, is now coming with so he can get an interview in Michigan... And the bad part is that Kate and Adam can't stand each other!

So now all 4 of them are stuck in a car, where none of them are happy for different reasons. And the longer they are stuck in the car, the more Kate and Adam get on each other's nerves.

But after awhile, Kate decides that she's going to try to enjoy the time with her friends before she hooks up with Lucas after all of this time.

When they get to WI, Kate is excited to see Lucas and they automatically act like they have been dating. The problem is, Lucas has been going waterskiing everyday - and Kate hates being on the boat and will never waterski after her last experience.

Being with Lucas is not all what she thought it would be, being a romantic at heart that she is. And she seems to be thinking about another boy while hanging out with Lucas...which is not what she expected at all!

Will Kate get her romantic relationship, or will Lucas be obsessed about sports and image rather than being with Kate? Read Drive Me Crazy by Erin Downing to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was a cute, short, fast read. It is definitely all about romance and first loves, with a little adventure of road tripping and unexpected twists and turns (though not really unexpected for the reader who can see the signs).

It was a cute novel, not something that I absolutely loved. In fact, Kate kind of annoyed me for the majority of the novel, but I did love her banter with Adam. It just felt strung out and she was too concerned about the past than to look at her present and future.

I also loved her two best freinds Sierra and Alexis. Alexis was a tough cookie and took prisoners when she had to and I would have loved to read about Sierra's story living with her split parents who were trying to work things out.

Overall, it was an alright novel. I would recommend it for anyone who wants a light read about first loves and summer romance. It took me just a few hours to start and finish it - only about 200 pages long. It's definitely for teens as they are all 16 and worry about things like what to wear to go to a bonfire and such.

Take Me There by Carolee Dean

Living on the wrong side of town is always tough, but Dylan has learned the rules the hard way. After being in juvie with his friend, Wade, Dylan has decided to live life the right way: no drugs, booze, hijacking cars, nothing.

Now he works at a car dealership - legally. Things don't always go as planned though, Dylan finds out.

After making another horrible mistake, Dylan and Wade are on the run. Dylan wants to meet his father, who's been in prison in Texas for the past 11 years. Dylan wants to find out how his father got on the wrong side of the tracks and if there was any hope to steer clear of his father's footsteps.

Dylan wants to lead a good life so he can be with the love of his life: Jess. She is the best thing that has happened to Dylan and he wants to see if he can change and be the guy that she deserves.

When meeting his father, Dylan realizes that he's not the man he pictured. His father is calm, studious, and definitely doesn't seem like he killed a man. But whenever Dylan brings up that day, his father clams up and refuses to talk to Dylan again.

As the last few days of his father's life withers away, Dylan starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together about what happened that night and how Dylan's life could possibly end up.

Will the Texas government grant Dylan's dad another chance? Will he be executed? Will Dylan be able to live a crime free life with Jess, or is he fated to the same life as his father lived for the past 11 years? Read Take Me There by Carolee Dean to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was a great novel! Not only was there some romance between Dylan and Jess, but there was mystery and crime to keep the reader in a lot of suspense until the very end of the book.

When reading about Dylan's troubles with the local gang in California, I was reminded of the book Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. By Carolee Dean created a different world where Dylan was able to run away from that life - even if it was just for a little while before it caught up to him.

I really enjoyed getting to know Dylan's father the most out of this novel. The reader was able to see what it was like to be in jail for 23 hours every day - stuck in the same cell with the same walls.

The mystery part was also a great add to the story. Dylan knew deep in his heart his father couldn't have killed the cop - especially because the cop was his father's closest friend.

The more Dylan thought about it, the more he remembered things from that night - including the fact that he was at the location the night of the murder when he was 6 years old.

I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone! It's written through Dylan's perspective, giving teen guys a chance to get into another guys head and really understand what it must feel like to be stuck in a bad situation and feel like everything they believed in was a lie.

I will say that there might be content unsuited for younger audiences, but older teens and adults would definitely enjoy this story and the mystery that is solved by the end of the novel.

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy has had a difficult 3 months at the end of her junior year. Her father died, her twin brother went to a rehab center in North Carolina, and her mother decided that her and Amy were going to move from California to Connecticut after Amy finished school.

Only Amy doesn't drive anymore. So, when her mom needs the Jeep in Connecticut, Amy is road tripping with an old friend, Roger.

Amy and Roger don't remember each other that much, since they have barely seen one another in 10 years, but Roger needs to get to Pennsylvania to stay at his dad's for the summer break off of college (which he goes to college in Colorado).

After careful planning, Amy's mom makes all of their decisions by reserving rooms at hotels and mapping out the roads to take, making a 4 day trip from CA to CT.

Instead of following the carefully made out plans, though, Roger and Amy decide to take a little...detour.

Which ends up taking more than 4 days and cutting them off of the money Amy's mother supplied at the beginning of the trip.

This doesn't stop Amy or Roger, though. The detour gives them freedom from their troubled background, and also gives them a chance to complete some unfinished business - for both of them.

My Thoughts/Reflections
Wow. This was an amazing book. Usually I'm all about the chemistry between the two characters, but the content and the way this book was written blew my mind.

I've read some road trip books before, so I wasn't expecting amazingness from this novel. Boy was I wrong. Reading Amy's troubled thoughts about what had happened to make her not want to drive was spell bounding. Even though I was able to figure out very early on what happened, reading her reactions and thoughts kept me on the edge of my seat.

Also, I really enjoyed the details of every state her and Roger drove/stopped through. I'm not much for riding in the car hours upon hours, but with company like Roger, I might be able to handle it. This book actually made me want to road trip - something I never thought I'd want to do.

This is a must read book, I think. The struggles that both Amy and Roger go through during this novel is very relatable and their reactions are real. Even if the reader can't relate to either of their stories (like myself) it is still a well written novel that will snare the reader's attention and keep them wanting more until the last page (and maybe even after they've finished!).

So...go read it to join Amy and Roger's adventure during their "epic detour"!

Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

Going off to college is a tough transition. Especially to a college that is far away and you only know one person: your ex. That's what happened to Courtney. She was dating Jordan when he tells her that he is seeing another girl through MySpace and that he wants to see other people rather than be in a committed relationship two weeks before they were going to road trip together to college in Boston (from Florida, mind you).

But. There are always two sides to every story. Lauren Barnholdt wrote this novel in a very interesting way. First, she wrote each chapter alternating the narrators. One chapter was through Courtney's viewpoint and then Jordan would get his say of what happened. However, Barnholdt switched it up even more by changing the time of the story. Some chapters were during the 3 day trip to Boston, when Courtney and Jordan were broken up, to 6 months before the trip when Jordan and Courtney were starting/currently dating.

The reader finds out throughout the series of narration exactly why Jordan broke up with Courtney and also how each character really felt about the other. After getting to Boston, Jordan and Courtney have to deal with the events that unfolded through those very long 3 days of their trip, while also transitioning into their college dorms and classes.

This was very well written. Barnholdt kept the reader in suspense as to what really happened between these two characters and was able to keep each characters thoughts unique to their own style, showing that each character really had strong emotions about the events that unfolded.

I think that this book could easily be read by both guys and girls because both characters were expressing their thoughts. I'm not used to reading a guy's perspective about starting a relationship and going to college with either a girlfriend or an ex-girlfriend, so being able to get some insight on Jordan's feelings was a great change.

While the trip might have been difficult for both Courtney and Jordan, they were able, in the end, to find the truth and be honest with one another, which is a hard thing to do. This would be a great story for anyone, whether they are in or just ended a relationship, scared about going to college or a new school, or having troubles with their parents. This book covers a lot of hard topics, making it a very relatable book to all audiences.